In the interest of full disclosure, the creator of and collaborators for this guide identify with some, but not all of the oppressed identities presented here. As members of the Penn College community, we strive to encourage diversity, inclusion, awareness, equality, and equity. While I have made an attempt to collect and present some of the more timely, relevant, and quality resources on the topics of oppression, I recognize that my collaborators and I are still susceptible to our own implicit biases, privilege, and perspectives. Given our own limited experiences, any thoughts, comments, or suggestions, particularly from members of any marginalized populations, are sincerely welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Oppression is a result of prejudiced thoughts and actions combined with institutionalized or systemic power that is formed and reinforced throughout history. Institutional power then allows specific groups of people to become the majority identity for that society, which gives them a position of dominance (also known as privilege) that echoes throughout many systems in that society and culture.
When one hears about something like systemic racism, it is a reference to the educational, institutional, and cultural systems that are in place to keep certain group(s) of people oppressed. These systems are evident in our language, our symbols, and even our laws, and are indications of the "norms" for our societies. Because these "norms" recognize what is dominant, acceptable, or valuable for our society, they conversely give power or privilege to individuals with those identities over individuals with marginal or non-dominant identities. For example, individuals who are not heteronormative experience barriers to getting married or adopting children.
Anti-Oppression refers to anything that actively attempts to challenge systems of oppression. This could include strategies, actions, theories, and even language. A large part of anti-oppression is first helping people to recognize that oppression exists and present ways to lessen imbalances caused by systemic oppression, in hopes of someday equalizing those imbalances. Anti-oppression is strongly linked to diversity and inclusion, but it's important to note that these terms are not interchangeable.
Allyship is not an identity, but rather a process. It is both passive and active, in that it involves listening, learning, and acting, in an effort to help bring inclusion, diversion, equity, and equality to the forefront of societal concerns. Being an ally means being aware of one's own limits with regard to knowledge and experience, but not allowing those limits to prevent one from taking action. Allyship means not being afraid to act when witnessing oppression, but it also means working actively to deconstruct the institutional, cultural, and systemic oppression facing marginalized people every day. Allies do not seek to only surround themselves with victims of oppression, but also those who are privileged, in an effort to help the latter challenge their own biases, perceptions, and ideals.
Language and, more importantly, being aware of the language we use is an important step in fighting against oppression. While some people may believe that society is becoming too "politically correct," the real truth is that more people are willing to speak out against hurtful and oppressive language and more people are willing to recognize how that language is construed negatively, and actively work toward creating a better and more inclusive future. This is why our language is constantly changing and words that may once have been socially acceptable slowly work their way out of our colloquial conversations.
-misia vs. -phobia: One example of shifting language is the recent emergence of the suffix -misia to replace the well-known suffix -phobia in words such as homophobia or Islamophobia. This shift in terminology has only recently emerged because it is harmful to individuals with real phobias (e.g. real anxiety disorders that are the result of real fears). Using -phobia to define oppressive attitudes reinforces negative stigmas against mental illness; suggests that oppression is a result of fear, rather than hate; and removes the accountability of the oppressor by suggesting that it's not in their control. Misia, stemming from the Greek word for hate or hatred, has begun replacing the -phobia suffix in some areas, in an effort to be more inclusive and less ableist. While this language is not mainstream yet, it is an example of how we should all be constantly aware of our language and the effects that it has on our audience(s) and willing to learn and grow from that.
Symbols, much like language, may have different meanings to different people. For example, many argue that the Confederate flag or Confederate statues are significant reminders of their ancestors and history. The issue for many others, however, is the brutal history that those symbols represent, along with the celebration of racism that those symbols continue to represent for some. By supporting these types of symbols, one is inadvertently supporting systemic racism by prioritizing white nostalgia over racial injustice.
Databases on Oppression
Covers social issues and includes pro and con viewpoint articles, reference articles, full-text magazines, academic journals, newspapers, primary source documents, government and organizational statistics, multimedia, and links to pertinent websites.
Search 16 ProQuest social science databases at once.
Indexing and full-text of academic journals covering social science disciplines including anthropology, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work and sociology.
Websites on Oppression
Books on Oppression
Cultural diversity, inclusion and justice: Being a community activist by
This book is not an impersonal academic treatise on social justice activism but instead the author's description of what social justice activism has looked like through the prism of his eyes. The methods of the book are straightforward, using historical, current and personal data--all of which were inextricably entwined. The text focuses on the truth that bigotry is perpetuated by countless white, black and brown people. More important than academic debates about bigotry, the book is about negating or preventing bigotry. The author reviews historical incidents and also tells portions of his own life stories. His goal is to help readers know his perceptions of bigotry and then compare and contrast his perceptions with their own. The text is organized in major topics: Beginnings of Bigotry; Creation of a Nation; Migrants, Immigrants and Slaves; Quest for Civil Rights; Women's Rights Movement; Disability Rights Movement; Elder Rights Movement; LGBTQ Rights Movement; Social Class Matters; and Going Forward. This book is written to be actively read and to initiate meaningful conversations about social justice. The primary audiences for the text are college students who are majoring in social and behavioral sciences, social work and health care. The book will also be a valuable resource to teachers, community activists, and other persons who want to enhance their knowledge of racism, sexism, homonegativity, ableism, ageism, xenophobia and classism.
Powerarchy: Understanding the psychology of oppression for social transformation by
Harvard-educated psychologist and bestselling author Melanie Joy exposes the psychology that underlies all forms of oppression and abuse and the belief system that gives rise to this psychology--which she calls powerarchy. Melanie Joy had long been curious as to why people who were opposed to one or more forms of oppression--such as racism, sexism, speciesism, and so forth--often stayed mired in many others. She also wondered why people who were working toward social justice sometimes engaged in interpersonal dynamics that were unjust. Or why people who valued freedom and democracy might nevertheless vote and act against these values. Where was the disconnect? In this thought-provoking analysis, Joy explains how we've all been deeply conditioned by the invisible system of powerarchy to believe in a hierarchy of moral worth--to view some individuals and groups as either more or less worthy of moral consideration--and to treat them accordingly. Powerarchy conditions us to engage in power dynamics that violate integrity and harm dignity, and it creates unjust power imbalances among social groups and between individuals. Joy describes how powerarchies--both social and interpersonal--perpetuate themselves through cognitive distortions, such as denial and justification; narratives that reinforce the belief in a hierarchy of moral worth; and privileges that are granted to some and not others. She also provides tools for transformation. By illuminating powerarchy and the psychology it creates, Joy helps us to work more fully toward transformation for ourselves, others, and our world.
Identity-Based student activism: Power and oppression on college campuses by
Historically and contemporarily, student activists have worked to address oppression on college and university campuses. This book explores the experiences of students engaged in identity-based activism today as it relates to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression. Grounded by a national study on student activism and the authors' combined 40 years of experience working in higher education, Identity-Based Student Activism uses a critical, power-conscious lens to unpack the history of identity-based activism, relationships between activists and administrators, and student activism as labor. This book provides an opportunity for administrators, educators, faculty, and student activists to reflect on their current ideas and behaviors around activism and consider new ways for improving their relationships with each other, and ultimately, their campus climates.
A grammar of power in psychotherapy: Exploring the dynamics of privilege by
This book sheds light on how underlying patterns of societal power relations affect the patient-therapist dyad in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. It is an effort to understand, and ideally to reduce, clinical blindness in psychotherapy. The book systematically addresses unique therapeutic challenges in four different core therapeutic dyads of relative privilege: when therapist and patient share the same social privilege, when privilege favors the therapist, when privilege favors the patient, and when therapist and patient have a similar level of nonprivilege. It explores relevant clinical patterns and dynamics in each of the four core fields of relative privilege and will be helpful in the teaching of issues of diversity, cultural competency, social justice, and awareness of privilege. The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in the book. Chapter two introduces readers to the complexities and inconsistencies of privilege and subordination, endeavoring to invite curiosity and self-reflection about one's own privileges and complexities. Each of the subsequent chapters explores, using vignettes, one square from the matrix: Chapter three describes similarity of privilege; Chapters four and five discusses privilege favoring the therapist and privilege favoring the patient; Chapter six explores the situation of similarity of nonprivilege. Chapter seven recounts a longer case that illustrates the complexity of fighting sexism and finding repair in political interpretation. Chapter eight presents a summary and integration of the ideas that have previously arisen with respect to the different relative power situations.
Everyday white people confront racial & social injustice by
While we are all familiar with the lives of prominent Black civil rights leaders, few of us have a sense of what is entailed in developing a White anti-racist identity. Few of us can name the White activists who joined the struggle against discrimination, let alone understand the complexities, stresses and contradictions of doing this work while benefiting from the privileges they enjoyed as Whites. This book fills that gap by vividly presenting - in their own words - the personal stories, experiences and reflections of fifteen prominent White anti-racists. They recount the circumstances that led them to undertake this work, describe key moments and insights along their journeys, and frankly admit their continuing lapses and mistakes. They make it clear that confronting oppression (including their own prejudices) - whether about race, sexual orientation, ability or other differences - is a lifelong process of learning. The chapters in this book are full of inspirational and lesson-rich stories about the expanding awareness of White social justice advocates and activists who grappled with their White privilege and their early socialization and decided to work against structural injustice and personal prejudice. The authors are also self-critical, questioning their motivations and commitments, and acknowledging that - as Whites and possessors of other privileged identities - they continue to benefit from White privilege even as they work against it. This is an eye-opening book for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be White and the reality of what is involved in becoming a White anti-racist and social justice advocate; is interested in the paths taken by those who have gone before; and wants to engage reflectively and critically in this difficult and important work. Contributing Authors Warren J. Blumenfeld Abby L. Ferber Jane K. Fernandes Michelle Fine Diane J. Goodman Paul C. Gorski Heather W. Hackman Gary R. Howard Kevin Jennings Frances E. Kendall Paul Kivel James W. Loewen Peggy McIntosh Julie O'Mara Alan Rabinowitz Andrea Rabinowitz Christine E. Sleeter
Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia by
Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators.
First, do no harm: Power, oppression, and violence in healthcare by
First, Do No Harm shows how health care professionals, with the best intentions of providing excellent, holistic health care, can nonetheless perpetuate violence against vulnerable patients. The essays investigate the need to rethink contemporary healthcare practices in ways that can bring the art and science of medicine back into sorely needed balance. These ground-breaking studies by noted scholars question commonly held assumptions in contemporary healthcare that underlie oppressive power dynamics and even violence for patients and their families. The contributors discuss such topics as women and violence, life-support technologies, and healthcare professionals’ own experiences as patients. First, Do No Harm opens the discourse for reaching new understandings, from reassessing the meaning of "quality of life" to questioning the appropriateness of the very language used by healthcare professionals. It will be welcomed by healthcare workers and by scholars in nursing, medicine, and the allied health sciences.
Animal rights/Human rights: Entanglements of oppression and liberation by
This accessible and cutting-edge work offers a new look at the history of western 'civilization,' one that brings into focus the interrelated suffering of oppressed humans and other animals. Nibert argues persuasively that throughout history the exploitation of other animals has gone hand in hand with the oppression of women, people of color, and other oppressed groups. He maintains that the oppression both of humans and of other species of animals is inextricably tangled within the structure of social arrangements. Nibert asserts that human use and mistreatment of other animals are not natural and do little to further the human condition. Nibert's analysis emphasizes the economic and elite-driven character of prejudice, discrimination, and institutionalized repression of humans and other animals. His examination of the economic entanglements of the oppression of human and other animals is supplemented with an analysis of ideological forces and the use of state power in this sociological expose of the grotesque uses of the oppressed, past and present. Nibert suggests that the liberation of devalued groups of humans is unlikely in a world that uses other animals as fodder for the continual growth and expansion of transnational corporations and, conversely, that animal liberation cannot take place when humans continue to be exploited and oppressed.
The Architecture of Oppression: The SS, forced labor and the Nazi monumental building economy by
This book re-evaluates the architectural history of Nazi Germany and looks at the development of the forced-labour concentration camp system. Through an analysis of such major Nazi building projects as the Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds and the rebuilding of Berlin, Jaskot ties together the development of the German building economy, state architectural goals and the rise of the SS as a political and economic force. As a result, The Architecture of Oppression contributes to our understanding of the conjunction of culture and politics in the Nazi period as well as the agency of architects and SS administrators in enabling this process.
Utopian Legacies: A history of conquest and oppression in the Western world by
Paradoxically, contemporary horrors like ethnic cleansing are deeply rooted in humanity's highest aspirations, which have given rise to countless similar upheavals and atrocities perpetrated over millennia. Although the ideals embodied in religion and philosophy are considered to be humanity's prime "civilising" force, religions that preach love have been used to justify bloody massacres, and utopian ideals have fomented intolerance and persecution of those who were perceived as obstacles to the realisation of an ideal society. John Mohawk, a distinguished Native American historian, examines this paradox and traces the role of utopian thinking as the rationale for religious wars, subjugation of indigenous peoples, genocide, enslavement, plunder, economic domination, and campaigns of world conquest from the time of the ancient Greeks. Mohawk examines the hidden dynamic within utopian thinking and the danger it poses when it is adopted by powerful groups who use it to serve their own interests. He points out that the danger lies not in the utopian ideal itself but in the parallel assumption that its followers are in possession of the only "truth" and are therefore justified in forcing their "better way of life" on other cultures or nations for the ultimate good of humanity. In a gripping historical narrative, Mohawk traces the impact of utopian thinking on the rise of Western culture in ancient Greece and Rome, the emergence of the Christian empire, and the holy wars of the Middle Ages. Showing how this mindset has shaped Western development, he makes it clear that the utopian legacy still influences contemporary social and political movements at home and abroad. Our greatest challenge is to find ways to defuse its harmful effects on cultures different from our own, while preserving our aspirations and personal ideals. Mohawk argues that only a pluralistic outlook can truly support peace and understanding among the peoples of the world.
Readings for Diversity and Social Justice by
The first reader to cover the scope of oppressions in America, Readings for Diversity and Social Justicecovers six thematic issues: racism, sexism, Anti-Semitism, heterosexism, classism, and ableism. The reader contains a mix of short personal and theoretical essays as well as entries designed to challenge students to take action to end oppressive behavior and to affirm diversity and racial justice. (For the original version of chapter 48, please refer to: Herek, Gregory, "Heterosexism and Homophobia," in Textbook of Homosexuality and Mental Health, ed. Robert Cavaj and Terry S. Stein, 1996, American Psychiatric Press, pp. pp. 101-113.)
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